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View synonyms for continual

continual

[ kuhn-tin-yoo-uhl ]

adjective

  1. of regular or frequent recurrence; often repeated; very frequent:

    continual bus departures.

    Synonyms: repetitious, repetitive, recurrent, successive

  2. happening without interruption or cessation; continuous in time.

    Synonyms: unending, uninterrupted, permanent, unbroken, unremitting, incessant, ceaseless, unceasing



continual

/ kənˈtɪnjʊəl /

adjective

  1. recurring frequently, esp at regular intervals
  2. occurring without interruption; continuous in time
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Usage

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Confusables Note

Although usage guides generally advise that continual may be used only to mean “intermittent” and continuous only to mean “uninterrupted,” the words are used interchangeably in all kinds of speech and writing with no distinction in meaning: The president's life is under continual (or continuous ) scrutiny. Continuous (or continual ) bursts of laughter punctuated her testimony. The adverbs continually and continuously are also used interchangeably. To make a clear distinction between what occurs at short intervals and what proceeds without interruption, writers sometimes use the contrasting terms intermittent ( intermittent losses of power during the storm ) and uninterrupted ( uninterrupted reception during the storm ) or similar expressions. Continuous is not interchangeable with continual in the sense of spatial relationship: a continuous (not continual ) series of passages.
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Derived Forms

  • conˌtinuˈality, noun
  • conˈtinually, adverb
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Other Words From

  • con·tinu·ali·ty con·tinu·al·ness noun
  • quasi-con·tinu·al adjective
  • quasi-con·tinu·al·ly adverb
  • uncon·tinu·al adjective
  • uncon·tinu·al·ly adverb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of continual1

First recorded in 1300–50; from Medieval Latin continuālis, equivalent to Latin continu(us) “uninterrupted” + -ālis adjective suffix; replacing Middle English continuel, from Middle French, from Latin, as above; continuous, -al 1
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Word History and Origins

Origin of continual1

C14: from Old French continuel, from Latin continuus uninterrupted, from continēre to hold together, contain
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Example Sentences

In a response to the GAO included in the report, the Department of Labor said it planned to clarify its future unemployment releases to note that the number of continual claims does not accurately estimate the number of people claiming benefits.

There are hydrogen ions in the continual flow of charged particles from the sun.

“Taiwan’s continual success is due to strict enforcement of border control,” says Jason Wang, director of Stanford University’s Center for Policy, Outcomes and Prevention.

From Fortune

The continual investment into this kind of profiling and segmenting indicates that this kind of data driven, large-scale microtargeting has only grown and become mainstream.

It’s not offering the same kind of real-time, continual analysis as more expensive strategies.

From Fortune

And in the process of looking, continual looking, the result in any given performance can be long or short.

The Krishna Movement stresses continual silent chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra in order to keep the mind focused on God.

Coping with drought and marginal soils was a continual struggle.

Before the restraining effects of governments, he argued, we lived in “continual fear and danger of violent death.”

Throughout the book there is a continual refrain: “Four years before the end …” or “The day before the end …” and so forth.

But the continual drafts had kept ever in advance of the receipts, draining the exchequer—crippling its faculties.

The cabins along the country roads were a continual source of curiosity to Yung Pak.

On such occasions continual salutes are fired from the imperial ships, and sometimes from others in the harbour.

On account of the continual heat, there is no glass in any of the windows, but its place is supplied by sun-blinds.

Ugly, small and a drunkard, he was nevertheless the lucky husband of Luigia, whose marvelous beauty was his continual boast.

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contingent workercontinually